Japan group says pacifist constitution still supreme, eyes Nobel
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s pacifist constitution is an example for the world despite changes that have cleared the way for its troops to fight overseas for the first time since World War Two, the head of a group tipped as a Nobel Peace Prize contender s…
Islamic State militants blow up ancient Arch of Triumph in Palmyra
DAMASCUS (Reuters) – Islamic State militants have blown up the Arch of Triumph, a major monument in the 2,000-year-old Roman city of Palmyra, Syria’s antiquities chief said on Sunday, after they destroyed two ancient temples at the central Syrian site …
Ruling Portugal coalition heads for win, may lose majority
LISBON (Reuters) – Portugal’s center-right government headed for victory in an election on Sunday that was a vote test of its tough austerity stance, but exit polls showed it was likely to lose its majority in parliament.
Assad says Russian air campaign vital to save Middle East
BEIRUT/AMMAN (Reuters) – President Bashar al-Assad said the success of a military campaign by Russia, Syria and its allies was vital to save the Middle East from destruction, a day after Moscow said it would step up air strikes against Islamic State ta…
Violence intensifies in Jerusalem, West Bank, raising security concerns
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Violence intensified in Jerusalem and the West Bank on Sunday after Israelis were targeted in two stabbing attacks and a Palestinian was killed in a clash with Israeli troops, officials said.
Some relieved to find bodies as hundreds feared dead in Guatemala landslide
SANTA CATARINA PINULA, Guatemala (Reuters) – Despair in the search for hundreds of people buried in a landslide that swallowed part of a Guatemalan town is so deep that some relatives feel lucky simply to have found the bodies of their loved ones.
Germany needs to limit refugee influx, close borders: Merkel allies
BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany needs to limit the number of refugees it takes in or even close its borders, conservative allies of German Chancellor Angela Merkel said at the weekend, as the country deals with record inflows of people fleeing from war and …
Medical charity MSF demands independent probe into strike on Afghan hospital
KABUL (Reuters) – Medical aid group Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) on Sunday demanded an independent international inquiry into a suspected U.S. air strike that killed 22 people in an Afghan hospital it runs, branding the attack a “war crime”.
Iraqi PM opens Baghdad’s fortified ‘Green Zone’ to public
BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared the heavily fortified Green Zone in central Baghdad open to all citizens on Sunday, part of a reform drive prompted by protests demanding greater transparency and openness.
Venezuela’s Maduro chides Obama over delay approving ambassador
CARACAS (Reuters) – Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro complained on Sunday that U.S. leader Barack Obama’s government was delaying its consent for Caracas’ proposed new ambassador in Washington.
